Wednesday, February 19, 2014

DIY Harry Potter Doll Robe - Hermione American Girl Style Doll Tutorial


Are your kids into American Girl dolls?  My girls wish they were.  Right now they've only been blessed with the much cheaper version from Target. Both girls have a jar they're using to save money to buy a doll...I'll let you guess whether the 9-year-old or the 4-year-old has more in her job.

And up until a week or two ago, they only two outfits for the doll, and she didn't have a name.

Well, now she does have a name.  Meet Hermione!

(Our Hermione even has the characteristic bushy hair of the Hermione in the early books.)

As I was getting ready for Katie's birthday, I had the thought that I could probably make a doll robe, the same way I made Anson and Becca's Hogwarts robes for Halloween ...with a T-shirt!

And it worked great...and we couldn't stop there.  She needed a whole Hogwarts school uniform.

Oh...and of course a wand of her own.

In fact it's been so fun making these, that I've decided to carry sets in my shop if you'd rather buy one than make your own, you can purchase both basic sets (robe and scarf) and deluxe sets (robe, scarf, shirt, skirt, and wand) here.

But since I know many of you are DIYers, I'll go ahead and share my secrets.

Here's what you'll need...

Black infant T-shirt (12 mo. size), Black button, Printed Hogwarts Crest or other patch, scissors, thread, and snap or clasp (not pictured).

You need to make sure you've got a T-shirt that is not too long.  This one is a 12-month size shirt.  If you get one much bigger than that, it will drown your doll.  I purchased mine at Hobby Lobby.

You start by cutting the shirt up the middle.  I found the middle by folding the shirt in half and cutting along the crease line.

Then we'll need to hem these.  The them is actually going to be fairly generous for the size of shirt because we want it to also have the effect of making it a bit more snug.  I went down the raw edges with my serger to give it a more professional finish, since I was making this one for my shop.  (That's right...Katie's doll got my less professional protype.)  Because T-shirt fabric doesn't fray, there really is no need to finish this edge unless you want to.

For the them, I folded the fabric under about 3/4 of an inch.  (I didn't measure...just eye-balled it.)  I'm not a big pinner, but I did use pins for this since T-shirt fabric is so prone to stretching.
Then stitch to secure the hem.

Now for the patch, I found a Gryffindor logo online and printed it with my ink-jet printer onto some fabric.  (I really need to do a tutorial for that soon.  In the mean time, google "print on fabric with inkjet printer" and it will come up with several tutorials.  You don't have to buy any special fabric or paper...just plain white fabric backed with some Heat'n Bond.

Since this is a doll costume and not likely to need to be washed, simply ironing on your patch should be enough....but at our house you never know, so I decided to stitch around the patch.  Plus the stitching makes it look a bit more "patchy."

Set your sewing machine to a really short stitch length with a small-medium size zigzag and sew around the edge of the patch.

Instead of backstitching, I like to leave really long thread tails.

Then I pull them all through to the back and tie them in a knot.  This way there's not messy zig-zagged-back-stitching, but the stitching is still secured.

Then the last step is adding a closure.  I used a button and button hole for my first one, but I wasn't really pleased with how it looked.  Instead I decided that I like sewing the button on for show and then sewing a clasp or snap on behind the button.  I used a hook clasp (designed for pants since that's what I had on hand that was black) for this one.  I think a hook clasp is easier for little fingers than a snap, but either would work.

And then you're done.

If you want to make a whole outfit...

I made the drafted the pattern for the circle skirt using Dana's free Circle Skirt Tutorial from MADE.  I'm hoping to get the pattern posted soon, because I did change a few things, but Dana's tutorial will work great in the mean time.

I had planned to buy a little white shirt (because I don't like doing sleeves), but they are surprisingly hard to find, so I sent ahead and made one.  I used the Free Knit Dress Pattern from The Craft Patch and just shortened it to shirt length.  (Although the very first shirt I made was a bit to short.  You want to make sure you make the shirt long enough that it can tuck into the skirt.) Jennifer at the Craft Patch also has some other great links to lots of other doll tutorials.

I made the scarves the same way that I make my full size Hogwarts House scarves (tutorial here)...the strips are just half the size in both dimensions.

And the doll's wand is made the same way as the regular sized wands (tutorial here) we make...I just shortened the chopstick before starting on it.

I have lots of Harry Potter inspired gifts and fun things in my shop.  The selection is always changing.
https://www.etsy.com/shop/PiecesByPolly?section_id=14186184&ref=shopsection_leftnav_5

See these links for more details about other Harry Potter themed crafts we've done...and be sure to check back because I'll be adding more as I get them written up.


Gryffindor Deathly Hallows Quilt
 http://www.piecesbypolly.com/2013/10/harry-potter-printable-spell-books-sew.html

 

 Hogwarts Crest Quilt
 

Slytherin Quilt - Green and Silver
 Slytherin Quilt

 
 Giant Monster Book of Monster Cushion (No Sew)
 


Golden Snitch Birthday Cake
 Slytherin Quilt

 

Granger-Lovegood 2016 Election Shirts 
 

Potter - Weasley 2016 Election Shirts 
 

 

Lumos and Nox Quilt


Harry Potter Party Overview


 


 Hedwig Necklace
 

Accio Book Tote Tutorial - Freezer Paper Stencil 
  
Harry Potter Shirt - Freezer Paper Stencil



Easy Harry Potter Wands 


Printable Hogwarts Library Book Plates

Printable Harry Potter Valentines


Easy Harry Potter (Hogwarts) House Scarves


Golden Snitch Necklace

Golden Snitch Cupcakes
 


Ron Weasley "I'm a Keeper" Shirt - Freezer Paper Stencil
 

Ginny Weasley's Golden Snitch Skirt
 
DIY Quidditch Association Shirt - Freezer Paper Stencil (Boy Version)
 
DIY Quidditch Association Shirt - Freezer Paper Stencil (Girl Version)
 
Harry Potter Wizard Robe in 15 Minutes from a T-shirt
 

Harry Potter Family Themed Costumes
 

Harry Potter Inspired Charm Ornaments
 


Harry Potter Printable Spell Books
 http://www.piecesbypolly.com/2013/10/harry-potter-printable-spell-books-sew.html

Harry Potter Printable Dementor Themed Chocolate Bar Wrappers Books
  http://www.piecesbypolly.com/2014/01/harry-potter-valentine-printable.html



The Hermione Skirt
 http://www.piecesbypolly.com/2013/10/harry-potter-printable-spell-books-sew.html
Dementor's Kiss-Away Free Printable Party Favor or Valentine
 http://www.piecesbypolly.com/2013/10/harry-potter-printable-spell-books-sew.html

DIY Hogwarts Robe for 18-inch Doll
 http://www.piecesbypolly.com/2013/10/harry-potter-printable-spell-books-sew.html

Hermione in the Library - CraftingCon Post
 http://www.piecesbypolly.com/2013/10/harry-potter-printable-spell-books-sew.html

Harry Potter Potions Ornaments

 Harry Potter Robes with Oly*Fun


 The Wand Skirt

 Always Doe Pillow

Deathly Hallows Pillow
 Deathly Hallows Pillow


Or if dolls are more your thing than Harry Potter, you might like these fun DIYs:


Easy DIY Doll Tent 
 http://www.piecesbypolly.com/2013/10/harry-potter-printable-spell-books-sew.html


 Reversible Doll Sleeping Bags
 
Easy Doll Hanging Garment Bag



 
 Super Easy Doll Puff Quilt
 

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3 comments:

  1. Seems like this doll is now "British Girl" instead of "American Girl." :) What a cute outfit you pulled together for Hermione!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Can you be my neighbor? Then we could do HP crafts together!

    ReplyDelete

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